Atlantic Wire Launches HTML5 Web App

The site has launched a new HTML5 web app at touch.theatlanticwire.com, designed to fit the screen and reading behavior on the Apple tablet.

Web apps use HTML5 to create an interactive experience on web browsers that is similar to the downloadable apps found in Apple's App Store.

“As we see increased tablet adoption rates among our readers, we are actively experimenting with technologies that help us create great experiences in a media landscape with more and more choice,” Kimberly Lau, the vice president and general manager for Atlantic Digital, said in a statement. “We believe the future of digital publishing will require a multiple-platform, multiple-product strategy where users can access Atlantic content whenever and however they want it.”

The blog-savvy news wire site said a growing number of readers come to the site from iPads and other tablets — internal figures show that from 2011 to 2012, the number of tablet readers increased by 2010 percent.

The Atlantic Wire isn't the first to forgo an App Store app in favor of a web version.

The New York Times launched an HTML5 app in October, and Quartz, a mobile-savvy business publication started by the Atlantic's parent company earlier this year, is coded entirely in HTML5.